A lovely chat Rach sorry I missed it but we’re out of town for a few days. 😂😂 good news is although it gorgeous where we are it rained at home so no worries about the plants. Have a super weekend, Ali 🌞🌞

The no slug stuff sounds good. Great tip there. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 Sorry I missed the live. I’m yet to try the sourdough starter as a trap yet.. scared of encouraging the entire farm’s slug population to the plot 😂

Please let me know in the comments about the tomatoes and courgettes Also what else can I sow Thanks for everyone who watched 💚🌱

Yes, sourdough starter to attract the slugs 👍

@ericandrachallotmenteers

22 күн бұрын

Thanks 🩷

It's nothing to do with the nutrients Rach .Its just the cold .Tomato leaves turn purple when there too cold and courgettes get floppy .They should recover 🙂

@ericandrachallotmenteers

22 күн бұрын

Really? Well it has been a lot colder this time of year but it's still over 10-15c in the poly tunnel Here's hoping Susie. Thanks for that 🌱💚

Pencils good as dibbers - I use my grandson's baby forks to prick out 👍

@ericandrachallotmenteers

21 күн бұрын

Haha yeah I have a few pencils kicking about 🤣 And that's a cool way! Might get a couple 👍🏽 thanks for that Helena 🌸🌱

Hi Rachel Great Live and sorry i missed it! Re the broccoli head you buy from the shop or grow, the big thick bit at the bottom, before you cut off the "trees" is called the stem and is edible. Florets are just the leaves part of the broccoli. The tender stem (small branches) can be cooked whole but take a bit longer than the florets. With the main big stem, i would peel or slice the outer woody skin off before cooking. You can either cut them in logs like juillene style or dice but will be like the tender stems. I either save the scraps for making veg stock or i give to the wormery. If your courgettes are small like a ring finger and start to go soft on the ends, it's usually a pollination issue. I would cut them off straight way and use them in cooking or veg stock. You can kinda tell if the courgette is "pregnant" with seed as the flower dies off. If you don't have a small kids crafts brush, you can use a qtip. Gently pick up some pollen from the male flower and stick in the female flaps. (I am so sorry for laughing as i write this! lol) The female courgette has 4 flaps/ labia's, so you want to brush the male pollen in there. If you have 1 male flower and several females, i would just break the stem, remove the petals and you know, like stick it in there for each of them. Wierdly enough, even though they rely on pollinators to spread the male pollen, the male flower is designed to fit into the female flower flaps. Kinda cool biology and works with squashes and non self fertile cucumbers. I am currently showing our child the different between open pollinated, and fruit veg that requires help, like polinators and "IVF" help. They are also starting to learn about sex ed, which is quite interesting how they are teaching it now in Primary schools. Hence the giggles me trying to write it down as know my child thinks that it is "sexy time" from what he learnt from school and the other children. Blossom end rod, can happen with fully fertilised courgettes. That's mainly due to inconsistent watering or a lot of rain and can be a sign of calcium and magnesium deficiency. A higher P and K in the NPK mix would help. For fruits like these and tomatoes, i tend to use liquid tomatorite. I generally increase the feed times in wet or hot weather as you are feeding the surrounding soil not the plant itself. I am dyslexic so it might not be explained the right way. It is a bit like pregnancy. You are not directly feeding the baby/plant as it grows. It takes what is needs from the placenta. You are not directly feeding the placenta or "roots" as it takes what it needs and stores it, from the host, the mother or in gardening terms, the soil. Keep the soil/ mother happy. Cover some plants that hate the rain. I had to learn how to spell nasturtiums as a dyslexic. Also, why is dyslexic not phonetically spelt!? lol Anyway, i love growing them as sacrificial flowering plants. If you like rocket, then you will like these. We are not but like the leaves and flowers. Did you hear that the met office confirmed that there was cloud seeding by other countries in 2022? Madness for us in London as it is so humid, even more than before. Think it was Oct last year and our in built fire alarms kept on going off due to the high humidity levels in our ex council concrete house! We've been having to deal with damp too in one of the bedrooms. It is crazy as it it normally so hot and dry in the house and now we are, and have been getting sick! Anyway, good to see you back in good spirits! Take Care x

@ericandrachallotmenteers

4 күн бұрын

Aww no problem, thanks for the comment though I'm hoping to have learnt so much more this year and have definitely got more support from other KZreadrs and people like yourself offering advice, experience and help. Thanks 💚🙌🏽

@AnyKeyLady

4 күн бұрын

@@ericandrachallotmenteers Yes i love learning from YT but it is hard to know what other people already know so i don't say anything that sounds like sucking eggs or come across condescending. If you get what i am saying? I am dyslexic so sometimes i am unsure of whether my point is coming across and tend to waffle! lol Have a great week and take care!

i tried kohlrabi for first time yesterday i roasted it on its own to test n it was gorgeous ate it all haha even the leaf's roast like crispy kale , great vegetable xx

@ericandrachallotmenteers

22 күн бұрын

Oh that sounds amazing Shell, thanks for the tip. I might order some seeds now and give it a go 😁💚

@gilliandevlin6147

22 күн бұрын

I've just tried kohl rabi for the first a few weeks ago it's really lovely

@ericandrachallotmenteers

22 күн бұрын

@@gilliandevlin6147 well after everyone's comments, I'm going to give it a go 😁🌱